Nightmares in Wonderland
by OnlyALittleMad
Summary: There are many roads to darkness. You just chose the wrong one.
1. The Dark Glass

**A Dark Wonderland**

**Chapter 1: The Dark Looking-Glass**

Two worlds. Two mirrors.

We have heard about it in stories and we have seen them in films. What are mirrors? Are they really objects in which one can admire oneself in? Or do they have a deep hidden meaning. What if they are teleporters? What if there is another world beyond ours and strange beings are looking down upon our lives?

If mirrors are like this, then one must wonder what the beings on the other side are like. Are they looking distainfully upon our pitiful existence? Or to them, is our world much better than their own?

This story does have such a magical mirror. But sometimes, magic isn't all good. Sometimes, when magical objects get placed into the wrong hands, it can lead to horrible results. Or else, not so horrible...

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Our story begins not far from here. In a curious shop in a little town. Now, this was no ordinary town. It was home to a very famous chocolate factory. But if you had lived in this very area, you would know that the factory was not very exciting. Nobody went in and nobody came out. The gates had not opened since The Golden Ticket Contest. But that was over. Far from over. Actually, I recall that it was about five years ago that I stood with the crowds on Febuary 1st, 2005.

The boy who had won...well he is much sweeter than his mentor.But maybe that is rude to say, for I have never met Willy Wonka myself. Little Charlie Bucket was his name. I remember he was very poor. He lived in an old hut which, and let me be very honest now, looked as though it had been sat on.

Charlie was, and remains even now to be very frail. You would think that being in a chocolate factory would fatten you up but no. Countering that however, was his huge warm smile and slightly fringed brown hair.

I remember when the boy came in. Very curious little one, you could tell. The way he handled every item in the store. It was as if he thought everything was fine china.

So he searched around for a while before coming across a silver hand mirror. The glass was covered in dust and cracked down the centre. The silver was worn down with age. But something about the mirror must have been fantastic. The way his brown eyes sparkled like a pair of diamonds told me that.

"How much is this?" he asked.

I must admit, I was worried. I knew about the origins of that mirror. Of what it does. Yet, something compelled me open my mouth.

"You can have it free. I have no further use for it."

"I insist to pay!" Charlie protested.

This argument carried on for a couple minutes. Maybe you would let him pay. But I didn't want him to. The mirror was cursed, and so would the money in my palm had he payed.

"Alright!" he said finally, staring down at the mirror.

It just might have been the worse decision I had ever made.

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No person wanted to be in The Rutledge Asylum. Sure, the doctors were alot better, and treatment worked faster, but there was one girl that disturbed everyone.

She had been there since she was eight years old, this was before she was in a hospital for a coma, and after her parents death in a house fire. The girl, Alice was her name, seemed obsessed with fantasy. Alice would often mutter in her sleep about a place called Wonderland.

"The ravings of a lunatic!" one of the doctors had said.

Alice was once a beautiful girl filled with happiness. That had all changed one fateful night. Apparently, her cat knocked over a candle in her room and set it on fire. Alice had woken up and ran downstairs, only to discover her parents were not there. Her whole life had been spent blaming herself for their deaths. Had it not been for that cat, she would still have some life left in herself.

Alice had come to the asylum looking very dishevelled. Her long brown hair was tangled and filled with leaves, as if she had been in the bush. Skinny pale arms bore long gashes. At first, doctors thought it might of been from thorns that she might of brushed against while in the foliage. But they were far to deep. A long dark blue dress with a white apron was all she wore. Curiously, the apron was as blood stained as her arms.

Alice's sullen brown eyes cast around at the line of nurses waiting to greet her. She didn't respond to their pleasant welcomes, she just kept her eyes trained on the wooden door at the end of the hallway.

That was to be her room. The room that everyone now thought was cursed. When a nurse came to check on Alice one day, she was met with a frightful sight. Nailed to the door was a white rabbit, freshly killed, it's blood running down the door to the floor. Written on the door frame in blood was a message.

_I am Alice. Hate me._

The nurse never came back to the asylum again.

**First off, I would like to clear up that the Alice I am using is the Alice from American McGee's video game and soon to be movie. So she is the demented, suicidal girl. I thought I would try working with a darker character this time around. To see how I do.**


	2. Magic Mirror

Charlie kept a good hold on the mirror as he headed back to the factory. He noticed that the handle of the mirror felt oddly warm. It was as if it was a freshly baked muffin.

"That's odd." he said.

Charlie nearly dropped the object when he looked into the glass surface. Instead of seeing a reflection, he saw a young woman being chained to a wall.

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After a great struggle the doctors managed to get Alice into her cell. Alice, however, didn't think of these people as doctors. They weren't the kind of people who helped anyone. Medicine for them was chaining the patients and torturing them all.

Alice had gone through so much pain over the years at the asylum, and despite what people thought, she felt bad for every person, young and old that entered here. She really wasn't crazy. She just had been under alot of anger and sadness. Depression was really what drove her into a coma. The asylum was really what drove her crazy.

The jail cell was grey, dark and cold feeling. The room was often filled with the soft moans of young children, their voices weary from screaming to be released from their prisons.

The man who handled Alice, threw her up against the wall with great force. She was surprised to see that she didn't get knocked out. A little girl, no older than eight, looked sadly up at Alice through dirty blonde locks. Alice tried her best to show some sympathy, and she thought she saw the girl give a weak smile.

"How are you today kitten?" the man asked Alice, grinning with yellow teeth. She responded with a death stare back.

"Mark my words sir. When I get out of here, I will see to it that you are all shot!"

The man just continued to shackle her limbs to the wall.

"Forgive me madam, if I don't worry." the man said. With a bow, he left the room.

There was silence for a moment, when Alice banged her head against the wall, sending a mass of brown hair onto her face.

"How long have you been here?"

Alice was shocked by the sudden noise. Usually people didn't talk in the cell. They just moaned or cried their pitiful selves to sleep. She blew some of the hair away, where it masked her eyes, and took in the girl.

She looked like a young Cinderella. Her blond hair fell over her dirty face, and she was dressed in black rags.

"Far longer than you." she replied. The girl nodded. Just for the heck of speaking, Alice turned toward her.

"Alice" she said, by way of introduction.

"Maggie." she said to the celing.

The room was to be filled with more noise, for at that moment, a plump rat came out of a hole at the far end. Maggie yelped, and pushed her body flat against the wall.

"Won't due you any good just so you know." Alice said. She kicked off one worn slipper.

"Come here honey." Alice said in an motherly tone. As if the rat understood, it scampered over. Maggie averted her gaze, when it started biting Alice's big toe. But she seemed to enjoy it, she thought, as she heard a soft moan of pleasure come out from her lips.

"That's enough!" Alice shouted after a moment. Ske kicked the rat, and sent it flying across the room. The power of it, managed to send a mirror to come out of her pocket, and fall to the floor.

She wiggled her bloody toe, to try and reach the mirror, but to no avail.

There was more silence, then Maggie yelped again. Alice sighed.

"What is it this-" but she stopped midsentence. The glass of the mirror was growing foggy, and after awhile, it showed a clear image. An image of two boys. One wore a top hat and the other was handing him a mirror, similar to her own.

"Who are they?" Maggie asked, her neck craning to see.

Alice shook her head. "I don't know."

That was the truth of it.


	3. Tortured Soul

Charlie just couldn't understand. The mirror seemed completly normal when he got it. Just an average, everyday mirror. But it was more than that. Much more.

He and Willy had spent a long time staring at the images in the glassy surface. Willy mostly, through Charlie couldn't think why. Of course, if anyone would see images in something that images shouldn't be shown in, they would stare at it alot. Willy was looking at it differently.

There were hours wasted just sitting outside Willy Wonka's office, waiting for something, anything. Did Willy know of the mirror's origins. Did he know what he was looking at? Charlie was at a complete loss. Once in awile, he would put his ear to the crack of the door to listen. All he heard though, was the ticking of a clock and the sound of pacing back and forth.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the door opened. Willy was holding the mirror in his hand so tight, that Charlie could imagine his knuckles a pure white colour under his latex purple gloves.

"I know where it is." Willy had told Charlie. His face was turned toward the floor, his face holding no expression. Charlie bit his lip.

"Do you have any idea where the mirror...?" but the young boy didn't have to finish his sentence. Willy shook his head.

"I know where it is because I was there." he said.

"Where is there Mr. Wonka?"

There was a long pause where Willy just stared at the floor.

"The Rutledge Asylum."

Charlie took a few steps back at that moment. An asylum? It wasn't possible. Sure, he thought his mentor was a little crazy at times, but not that crazy! The boy tried to think of Willy being imprisoned in some cold dark room. All Alone.

"Why...?" He couldn't bring himself to speak. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The honest truth was that Willy didn't want to tell anyone. He was a famous chocolatier, not an abused child. At least, Willy told people he wasn't abused. Or a child for that matter.

At that moment, Willy felt something on his arm. A small burning pain.

_No! You promised you would put this behind you. You promised you would not tell anyone._

Willy turned his beaming smile toward Charlie.

"Charlie, I..I have to show you something."

The heir looked quite frightened when he saw what lay under his mentor's purple silk sleeve.

The wounds were deep, but they appeared to have been inflicted quite a long time ago. The healing process had taken place and all that was left was thin pink lines.

"You..tried to commit suicide?" Charlie said breathlessly. Willy yanked down his sleeve when he heard the response.

"No. They tortured me."

"Is that why you afraid of touch?"

_That's exactly why. But I'm not telling you that Charlie._


	4. An Obsession

_Flashback_

_"A drug addict no doubt."_

_"It's disgusting! A boy so young too!"_

_"Should think himself lucky we picked him up."_

_Willy sat at the foot of the door, his ears picking up every word of the doctors conversations. He did not have a mental disease! At least, he thought he didn't. The world had appeared to be a blur now. What with his father gone, leaving him for dead in the snow._

_"They don't like me. The world hates me! What did I do to deserve this?" Willy said quietly to himself, tears starting to roll down his cheeks._

_Suddenly, the door opened and Willy, being caught off guard, fell backwards into the hallway. His head stared now stared up at a man with bloodshot eyes and a yellow toothed grin._

_Dad would of killed this guy for having those teeth, Willy thought._

_The man grabbed him by the hands and dragged him down the hall toward the torture chamber._

_He could hear the doctors laughing, mocking him. There was darkness, as the boy closed his eyes, but he still heard the laughter pounding through his ears. It almost turned into a vibration._

_HaHaHa..._

Alice never seemed to sense the world around her. The sounds of bells, the taste of food in her mouth. All these things never made a dent in her brain. She could feel nothing.

Perhaps it was the burning fire. After all, when Alice was admitted to the asylum her brain cells had been damaged. Perhaps it was the long coma she was in. Whatever it was, it kept people away.

All but Maggie. For a child so young, so innocent, kept in an asylum for such a short period of time. She understood her. Alice's anger, her hate, her lost joy from her heart. And now this mirror. Alice had develped an obsession with the man reflected in it's surface.

The mirror only showed images. It could not hear words. So Alice was left staring at what this man did.

"It's almost like Wonderland." Alice had told Maggie, when her eyes first set upon The Chocolate Room for the first time. "Before..."

"Before what?" Maggie asked. Alice had told her many things over a small amount of time, but as for Wonderland, it was kept a secret.

"Before the Queen." Alice said.

No words were said after that. The two girls fell into silence.

Charlie followed Willy around the factory more often these days. The heir paid attention to his behaviour the most. He, like Alice had an obsession with the mirror, staring at it at every possible moment. Charlie was worried that the girl he saw was causing him great pain. It could possibly bring back memories. Painfully dark memories that Willy cared to forget.

Even the factory suffered under the candyman's recent lack of attention. Charlie did all that he could, but he just didn't have the power to bring colour back to the candy trees, cotton back to the pink sheep.

One day, Willy actually began to be more responsive.

"Charlie, I want to go back."

Back? No! He couldn't mean...

"It has to be settled. I have to go the asylum."

No way! Charlie wouldn't let him go back to relive his dark past.

"I know why your going." Charlie told Willy.

"Why is that?"

Charlie lifted his head up. "Because your obsessed with that girl."

"Am not!"

"You are Willy!" Charlie shouted. He waved his hands around the Chocolate Room. "Have you looked at your factory? It's falling apart!"

Charlie was breathing heavily. He had never shouted at his family before, let alone his own mentor.

"Tht's why I want you to come with me." Willy said.


	5. The Sad Hatter

There was complete silence behind the doors of the factory's bedrooms. Except for Charlie's, in which you could hear the sound of feet padding against the soft carpeting.

Charlie would come with his mentor, but he was worried. Willy had grown to pay much attention to the hand mirror. Almost to a point where he seemed possessed by it. Sometimes, the mirror could unlock hidden emotions. Over the next few days, Charlie noticed that Willy cried more in public. Not a lot of tears mind. Just a few drops that would fall onto the glass.

Willy had also taken to avoiding people before the trip. He never came to Charlie's house for dinner, and never once did anyone see him outside his own room.

When the boy could not stand it anymore, he went to Willy. At first, there was no response when he knocked, but Charlie couldn't take it. He knocked louder, and this time there was a response.

"Come."

Charlie turned the knob of the door and came inside.

Of course, Charlie had been here before. But now, the room was different. It did not have the normal grace of before. The fireplace still had a few burning embers inside, and some glass ornaments, that once sat on the mantle were now shattered on the plush purple carpet. The silk covers of the velvet canopy bed, were unmade, and everything seemed very dim.

"What happened here?" Charlie asked, pointing out the glass on the floor. Willy looked up from what he was doing, which was packing a suitcase with what looked like the same outfit.

"Oh. That. They broke."

"All of them?"

Willy bit his lip, but was quick to erase nerves from his face. He tried to change the subject.

"Did you pack?"

"Pack? Do you mean to say that we will be staying at the asylum?" Charlie asked, eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. Willy dropped a pair of his goggle glasses on top of an already heaping pile of clothes. Charlie waited for a response, but his mentor never answered.

"How do you know they won't throw us out? After all, they did torture you."

"The I'll threaten them to let us in. I can make people do anything if I want to."

"You must not have wanted to when the other ticket winners fell to their demise."

Willy winced.

"Or" Charlie continued, "When you wanted me to come to your factory without my family."

"Charlie" Willy said in an almost whisper. He pointed a gloved finger to the door.

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"Alice? Is something wrong?" Maggie asked. Alice was sitting on the floor in her room, staring at the mirror.

"He's going somewhere." she said, more to herself than to Maggie.

"Who is?"

"The Hatter."

**I'm not very happy with this chapter. But you tell me what you think.**


	6. Look Beyond What You See

Seeing what Alice thought was The Hatter had to be a bad sign. And the recurring nightmares she had of the man in the mirror were just adding insult to injury. There could only be one solid reason for this to be happening. Something was calling for her. Something or someone wanted her back.

As the pale moon raised up into the sky through the barred window her torturer sent the whip down on her again. And again. But the bleeding caused no pain. All Alice's damaged brain could think about was the thought of some sort of gateway opening. She didn't know where this gateway was but she knew that it would someday be passed through.

When all was said and done, Alice walked slowly back to her room, the true pain of her injuries not quite settled in. It wasn't until Maggie, who had been waiting at the door for her, remarked about the deep wounds on Alice's back did her mind awaken.

"Alice, are you alright?"

Alice wished she could respond but the pain of the gashes and the light headiness she was getting from the blood loss consumed her.

"Give me the mirror." Alice said weakly, managing to raise her arm to the bed where it lay.

"You have to sit down." Maggie insisted as her friend fell to the hard wood floor.

She was grinding her teeth now to held numb the aching feeling.

"GIVE ME THE MIRROR!"

Maggie was taken aback by Alice's sudden outburst but she still got the mirror from the bed and placed it on the floor beside her.

Alice mustered all the strength she could take the mirror in her hand. She quickly began to calm down when she saw The Hatter reflected in its surface. He might have been an evil omen but she was still obsessed with him on a certain level.

"It's going to be alright Maggie." Alice breathed.

"G…Good! Because that stuffed bunny you sleep with…. Well, I don't know how to say this, but it's moving!"

Stumbling slightly, Alice got up from the floor and made her way to the worn chair where her rabbit sat. True to Maggie's word, it was moving. Shaking was more like it. And as Alice picked it up in her hand the shaking became more violent.

"Alice…put it down!" Maggie squeaked.

"No. It's a sign. They want me back."

"They? Who are they?" Maggie asked, growing more frightened.

"Me and The Hatter." Alice continued, not answering Maggie's question.

Maggie backed up from her at this point. She couldn't respond. She wanted to respond, but she couldn't. Finally, however, she managed to summon the courage to say one more thing.

"It's dangerous! Put the rabbit down!"

"Your right! I should drop the rabbit at this very second."

"Uhh…yeah!" Maggie responded, not sure how to react to Alice's changed attitude. And with that she dropped the plush animal. Instead of falling to the floor with a flop however, the bunny hopped across the room. Maggie, who's reaction had been expected, yelped in surprise.

"Alice, I see bunnies."

"We have to hurry! We're late. Or so very late!" the bunny squeaked.

"The bunny just…. talked!" Maggie said slowly before promptly fainting.

The rabbit stared at Maggie's frail form than turned his nose back up to Alice.

"Alice, I apologize. My intentions were not to disturb your friend."

"She will come round. What news from Wonderland, White Rabbit."

"Grave Alice. Very Grave. The queen has taken over. The only way to stop it is through you, and from what I heard she has a plan for that." The White Rabbit said.

Alice was not afraid. Anything the Queen could throw at her would never stop her.

"I'll handle it. Listen Rabbit, about the mirror. What happened to the one that got away?"

"This is what I wanted to tell you Alice. You see one of The queen's minions sent the other mirror to a gypsy. But I'm told it has been recovered. Unfortuatly, the mirror was cursed Alice. Cursed to infect the mind of any man who holds it."

"I don't understand."

"The mirror Alice. Who do you see in it?"

"He looks like The Hatter." Alice responded.

"You must find him Alice. Find him and the mirror. They have to be destroyed or else Wonderland and you will be in grave danger."

"But how am I supposed to find him?"

"Look. Look past the reflection. I have to go. Oh so very late!"

"Wait! Rabbit!"

But he had disappeared. As soon as her mind readjusted, Alice stared into the mirror, doing what The Rabbit had told her. Look beyond the reflection. What did that even mean?


	7. Cats and Candymen

The halls of the asylum were drowned in the sounds of Alice's relentless pacing. The mirror remained close to her face but no matter how hard she looked beyond the image of the man, she couldn't place a location. Where was she? Didn't he know that she had stuff to do? Like save an entire other world for instance?

Quick and clean. Quick and clean.

That is how she wanted to finish him off. It would also help to bury him somewhere in Wonderland. That way the police would find no evidence of a body. But as long as things went according to plan, that little detail would be able to pass by without a worry.

However, Alice did feel a certain degree of regret. Here she was, making a huge plan on how to kill a man, when she didn't even know him in the first place. It all sounded a bit harsh. There would have to be some kind of a reason, so that when the knife was posed above his head, he wouldn't be thinking "Why is this girl trying to kill me? What did I do?"

Finally, when she got sick and tired of the young children peeking their heads out of their rooms to stare at her, Alice headed back to her room.

"Ugh! Why can't you just tell me where he is?" she shouted, throwing the mirror so that it landed on her bed. It didn't respond. Just glinted from the moonlight hitting it. Just sitting on the bed.

Alice fell backwards onto the hard matress so that the mirror and her were sitting in the same position. Maybe it would help change perspective. It didn't.

_Twas brilig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wabe/ All mimsy were the borogroves/ And the mome raths outgrabe._

Now she knew she was going crazy. Did she just hear a familar rhyme? By a familar cat?

"Cheshire?"

And just like he had always belonged in her room, out he stepped.

"Some of those words are hard on the tongue. I spent all my time on them when you were gone. Did I do good?"

Alice didn't flinch when he came up to her. It was almost as if it was expected. However she did flinch when she set eyes on what he looked like.

It was like looking at the cat's evil twin. His purple coat was now matted and brown, as if he had been playing around in garbage. His eyes glowed such a fire red one might compare them to rubies. But that grin. That grin was the only thing that Alice found comfort inside.

"You look quite mangy, but your grin is a comfort."

"Thank you Miss, Liddell. I hope you know why I am here."

Alice sat up in bed.

"It's the mirror, I know. White Rabbit was telling me that I have to kill the man I see inside."

"But do you know why Alice?" Cheshire whispered. Alice glanced around the room, making sure nothing else was around, not even Maggie, to hear her response.

"Why?"

"It's the only way The Queen can destroy you. Through love."

"Love?"

"Yes. You see..." and the cat gracefully jumped onto the bed beside her. "The queen knows of your strengths. She knows that where Wonderland is concerned, you will be there to stop the danger. You being next in the throne to rule and she second, The Queen sees fit to destroy you in the most foul way. And because of your power she knows that love is the only way for you to clear from her path of obstruction towards the crown."

When Alice didn't respond The Cheshire Cat continued.

"Love, unfortunately, can sneak up on you when you least want it to happen. It's the way of life among humans."

"But love won't stop me. I'm not interested in falling in love. With any man." Alice said.

"Ah, but Alice. I know your game. Would you actually resort to killing an innocent victim for the sake of saving even your most precious land?"

"I...would actually." Alice said. Why did she have to falter? The cat was right. She would never kill an innocent person even if it was for Wonderland.

"Well, isn't there another way."

"Exploring your options dear Alice? You find that there is only one path to ultimately choose. Sure, you may be hindered by the vast amount of choices life will throw at you, but you can only be good or evil. You can't have both."

"I know that but is there a way to handle this mirror problem without killing him?"

"Yes, but it requires the mirror to be destroyed and the ultimate sacrifice."

"Which is?" Alice asked.

The cat's grin grew wider.

"Death. Someone who would risk anything to save Wonderland must put themself on the table."

"But...Who would choose a decision like that?"

"I have already told you the answer to that question."

"Now if you don't mind, I have to be heading back." The Cheshire Cat said, hopping off the bed.

"No!" Alice screamed, jumping off as well. She got on her knees. It felt odd to beg to a cat.

"Please, take me with you."

"They won't have you until you come with the man."

"But I'll never find him. Don't you get it. I'm hopelessly lost."

"You'll find Alice, that your arrival in Wonderland will come soon when you see what lies beyond the window."

And in the fraction of a second when Alice looked away, the cat was gone.

"Cheshire?"

Silence.

Alice got back up and turned toward the window. There coming up the path with a little boy, was the man. Alice looked into the mirror then back at the window. The images matched.

**I made a little spelling mistake in the previous version of this chapter but it's fixed now. **


	8. Meet Your New Nightmare

Alice hated these times. If only she was one of those people who could think up a brilliant plan in ten seconds or less. But she wasn't so it was time to move on. The boys seemed to be slowly moving up the path so if there any opportunity to think, now was it.

Maybe she couldn't cook up a plan in ten seconds or less but she sure could think of a plan in thirty seconds. The owner of the asylum, a Mrs. Anne Warback was the image of evil. Alice liked to believe that the building was a happy place before she came in and stole all the sunshine. Old, frail and grumpy, she only came out to greet visitors. Which meant she hardly came out. After all, who would want to come to a place like this?

Anne was what the kids in the asylum called "The Guardian Of The Kitchen." There was no way to get into that room unless it was dinner time. And that little event came once every three days. Given that fact, there were many starving children in the asylum. Alice had got used to this little routine after a couple of years however, and now her stomach hardly grumbled, even if she didn't eat for 5 days.

Now that the boys had been spotted, the alarm had been raised and Alice watched through the crack in the door as Mrs. Warback hobbled down the hall. Now was her chance. Quietly, she slipped out of her room, careful to avoid making the floor creek, for the woman had ears like a dog and would be able to hunt her down.

The plan worked. Just as Alice managed to get into the kitchen, the guests came in. Now it was only the problem of getting the knife. Luckily, even the largest one was easy to find. Almost too easy.

Now came the hard part because although half the plan was complete Alice still had another problem. She could smell Mrs. Warback's feet clopping across the hallway floor like a horse. A wild horse. Any moment spent outside the kitchen was a moment wasted to Anne. There was only one way to the man off. That was through getting caught.

"What are you doing in here you insane woman?" Mrs. Warback screamed as Alice hid the long knife behind her back.

"What I'm supposed to do." Alice replied calmly, taking a step forward when she saw that the man had come into the room, closely followed by the little boy. Then without thinking about it, she threw the knife in her target's direction.

The result was like something out of a movie, wherein the enemy could not kill the hero because, well, he's the hero. Alice wasn't sure what kind of hero the man was but she could safely say that throwing the knife marked her as the enemy. Everyone in the room was dividing it's time staring at Alice in horror and Willy, the long knife, stuck in the wall just above his head.

"Marvin!" Mrs. Warback screamed.

Marvin?

Out stepped a grinning man, with teeth that looked as though they would fall off at any moment, due to the plain to see gum disease. Willy, who Alice didn't think could be in more shock already, started to scream.

"Well Well Well, if it isn't our former tenant Mister William Wonka."

"You know each other?" Mrs. Warback said. Actually it sounded more like a screech. It was at that moment that Alice looked at the man, who quickly looked away.

"Well, that clears alot of stuff up. Take them both away."

Alice found herself being grabbed roughly by the arm to a very familar place. The plan didn't work and she was being dragged off to the torture chamber. On the plus side, the man she was supposed to kill was going there too, so hopefully Marvin would kill him, so she wouldn't have to.

But it was mentioned that he had been here before. Which was odd because Willy didn't look like he was tortured in the slightest.

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Marvin didn't even have to go through the agony of dragging a screaming, kicking crazy person toward the torture chamber because Alice was not even protesting.

"So what is it today Marvin? A couple whips on the back? Are you going to cut me?"

"Oh, it's better. Much better." Marvin said, shackling Alice and Willy to the wall. "Remember your little friend Maggie?"

Alice's breath quickly moved to her throat, and for the first time since she had attempted murder, Willy looked at her with concern.

"Oh, Martin." Marvin called out into the hallway in a sing song voice.

"Marvin and Martin. What a cute couple." Willy said, only loud enough for Alice to hear.

In stepped Alice's torturer. Normally, Alice was not afraid of him, but watched him pull in a bound and gagged Maggie into the room was enough to make her scream. What was worse was that Alice could do nothing to cure the pure panic in the girl's eyes.

"Now Alice, we can do this the easy way," Martin threw Maggie into a chair. "Or the hard way." And Marvin pulled out the same knife Alice used. Maggie's eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

"Don't. Say. Anything." Alice whispered but Martin heard this.

"Perhaps your friend needs some help too."

She knew what was coming before it even happened. They were going to bring the little boy too.

"Oh Mark."

Marvin, Martin and Mark. How cute.

Alice knew that Willy was trying to keep back his screams as Charlie was pulled in, bound and gagged, same as Maggie.

"We can just kill you four. No one will find your bodies anyway." Mark said.

"You can't kill them. First of all you have no motive. Or are you just doing this for your own sick pleasure?" Alice asked

"So you admit you will deserve what you get?" Mark asked.

"No one deserves death but I admit have have done bad things." said Alice.

"Some worse than others." Willy said.

"Well, I think you deserve pain if anything Miss. Kill the children first."

Martin and Marvin pressed knives against Charlie and Maggie's necks.

"If you would do the honour." Mark said. But just as the kid's throat's were to be slit, the would be killers eyes grew wide. Their breathing started to become raspy and even Charlie and Maggie stopped looking fearful to see what was going on.

The knives dropped to the floor. Blood came out Martin and Marvin's mouth's. They slumped to the ground. There, directly behind each of the bodies, everyone saw what the fuss was about. Two mangy cats, grinning broadly, looked at what Willy assumed to be the leader. Alice knew it to be The Cheshire Cat and the two other cats to be his brothers.

"Now Now Mark. Killing is very impolite. You should no better." the cat said. Mark fainted.

"Well, that takes care of one problem." Alice said.

"And what of the other? We've come to get you Alice. Maggie, I don't think we have had the pleasure of meeting." The cat said to the bound girl. Alice was sure she would faint.

"Oh yes, the keys to the chains you have on." The Cheshire Cat nodded to one of his brothers who dropped the keys from his mouth.

"Try and catch them."

The keys were thrown into the air and Alice managed to grab them, despite the chains. It was hard at first to get the lock undone, but once one hand was free the rest was cake.

"Would you mind explaining?" Willy asked, as Alice unchained him.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I'm coming Maggie." Alice said as she went to untie the two children. Willy pulled out the mirror that he had kept in his pocket for safe keeping. It showed Alice untying Maggie. The Cheshire Cat, who had been watching him this whole time spoke up.

_There once was a Queen from Nantucket who played a man like a puppet._

Willy looked up.

"What are you talking about?"

"Just some silliness. Or else not so silly." the cat said.

**That little rhyme there is important in future chapters just so you know.**


	9. Down The Rabbit Hole

Oh he looked like the Hatter alright. Mad too, Alice could tell, even if he did spend most of his time at the asylum in complete fright of the surroundings. Her wandering thoughts strayed Alice far from reality and she was very shocked when Maggie's bone gripping hug snapped her back to life.

"I'm so scared Alice." Maggie mumbled as she wept into Alice's arm, and Alice felt a pang of sadness sweep throughout her body. She knew that with the man here now she could go to Wonderland but Maggie would have to stay in the asylum. There wasn't a single inch of her that would risk taking Maggie there with her. And the boy would have the same thing applied.

"Listen to me Maggie," Alice began, holding her at arm's length, and trying to keep her voice steady as tears filled Maggie's eyes, "I'm going to Wonderland."

"Wonderland?" Maggie said, her voice sounding at first confused. But she quickly turned to a desperate tone.

"Oh, take me with you!"

"I can't Maggie. It's too much of a risk. Listen to me. Your going to get out of here. Your going to be strong and brave." Alice said.

"But how can I be Alice? I'm not like you. I never will be strong."

"Then you will pretend to be me."

Maggie was shaking violently now. Alice couldn't go. She would be dead for sure by time her only friend came back. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw the cat. The mangy coat, the bone chilling grin on his face. No! She would not be left in the dark.

"Alice, it's time." The cat said. And with one last guilty look, Alice turned away. Maggie shook her head. No no no! That was when she grabbed on to Alice's leg.

"DON'T LEAVE ME!"

Alice was on the verge of crying, Willy was looking completly shocked as he had no idea what was going on. As for Charlie, he stood in the corner of the cell with his eyes shut. Finally after she had shushed her, Maggie started to cry quietly.

"What's going on?" Willy whispered, not wanting to attract more people into the cell. Alice freed her leg of Maggie before she spoke.

"The mirror. It has more powers than you think."

"Powers?"

The cat continued for his friend.

"You cursed yourself when you got that mirror. You both did. And now you must go to Wonderland and destroy it."

"But Wonderland doesn't exist." Charlie said speaking up for the first time.

"Does it?"

"Of course it does. Right through the rabbit hole." The Cheshire Cat

There was a yelp from the floor and everyone turned around. Right in the middle of the floor was a large hole. That wasn't there before. Alice knew what was coming. She walked up to Willy.

"We both have to go. Alone. You can't take him with you. Do you understand?"

Willy was silent for a moment. It came to a point where it looked as though he might cry but eventually there was a nod. As he got up Alice turned to The Cheshire Cat and his two friends.

"I want you to take care of them."

"You have my word Alice. Not a finger will be laid."

Alice smiled and turned back to Willy.

"Are you ready?" she asked, as they neared the edge of the hole.

"And how deep is that hole?" he squeaked.

"It's a soft landing. Hopefully."

"Hopefully?"

"Well," Alice began. "The Queen rules the land, so there could be anything down there now."

"Anything?"

"We have to do this alright? Besides the landing should be the least of your worries."

"Least of my worries. What's down there?"

"Anything and everything as I already told you. Now we have to jump so when I count to three. One...Two...Thr...Oh for goodness sake, take my hand. We'll do this together. Do you have the mirror?"

Willy's eyes were shut and he nodded.

"Good. And Maggie?"

Alice turned around to see her hiding behind one of the mangy cats along with Charlie.

"I will come back for you. And we will escape and find you a family. One that will love you."

"It sounds wonderful." Maggie said. Alice nudged Willy.

"Don't you have something to say?"

He had forgotten about his best friend. His whole mind seemed to be focused on Alice holding his hand.

"I'll come...back too."

He turned back to the hole.

"Are you ready now?" Alice asked.

Willy squeezed her hand and shut his eyes again.

"Yes."

One.

Two.

Three.

Then nothing...


	10. So Which Way

It was just as Alice remembered it from the last time she came to Wonderland. Well, at least the drop was the same. Very slow moving and dull. However she had to admit, listening to William's screams for the first few moments of the drop gave her a small form of light entertainment. After five minutes, he was silent.

"Ok I want off this crazy ride now!" William complained.

"And how do you propose doing that Will? We're already falling!"

"But it never ends…"

"Oh it ends…soon." said Alice.

Then, as if something overheard the conversation, squinting past the blackness of the hole, they began to see solid ground. Alice thought for a moment. They had picked up so much speed since first jumping down the hole that to even think of a smooth landing was difficult.

"Get to a wall and climb down." She ordered.

"No!" William said stubbornly.

"Your loss then." Alice shouted back and grabbed hold of the smooth earth wall.

"There's nothing to grab onto anyway!"

"Yeah. Nothing but plant roots sunk into the earth."

And with that Alice grabbed onto a root sticking out of the wall and pulled. To her surprise the root was long enough and strong enough to pull her to the ground. Wherever she was now was no bother to her. All that mattered was that she was safely on the…

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

…ground. William came crashing down on top of her.

"Wow! Good thing you were here to break my fall huh?"

"Lucky me. Get off!" Alice insisted.

He didn't move. He stared at her for a moment. Alice stared up at him curiously. Then she opened her mouth as realization dawned on her.

"Have you ever been with a woman before?"

"No. Maybe. I might have been with hundreds." He said quietly.

"I'm sure you men would like to say that. Get off me!"

Alice shoved him off her body with all her strength.

"That hurt…"

She ignored him and got up, staring around the deserted dark room. It was empty. Tunnels branched out from every direction and all of them seemed to lead to nothing.

"What now?" he asked.

"You know…I have no idea. Any suggestions?"

"It's a million tunnels leading to nowhere!" William said, getting up from his spot on the ground.

"Nowhere that we know of…"

It was the very first issue they were going to have to face.


End file.
